Film Screening 22nd September, 2018

Incredibles 2

** Please note that Incredibles 2 contains several sequences of flashing lights which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy or other photosensitivities **

The Incredibles was the perfect superhero origin film. Incredibles 2 is bigger, darker and edgier – a smooth continuation, not a distant sequel, despite the 14 year gap between the release of the films.

Set immediately following the end of the first Incredibles, the newly formed crime-fighting family find themselves exposed to the public at a time when supers are still considered illegal. A telecommunications tycoon approaches them, determined to make supers legal again, and chooses Elastigirl as the face of their campaign. She must take on the world’s newest threat, a techno-genius known as The Screenslaver, leaving behind Mr. Incredible for his most incredible role yet: stay-at-home dad.

Those who remember the end of the first film will be aware that baby Jack-Jack revealed some of his superpowers to the caped (and therefore doomed) Syndrome, but his own family were unaware of Jack-Jack’s abilities. Not for long…

Set in a sumptuous, retro-futuristic version of the 1960s, Pixar’s usual attention to detail is outstanding – including delightful and clever touches, such as a parody of the ridiculous New Math educational fad – with a jazzy score made to match. Stay to the end of the credits to hear the supers’ amazing retro theme songs.

Richard Hills

The Darkest Minds

7:15 PM, 22nd September, 2018

Rating M

Length 104 mins

Year 2018

Young adult fiction – along with the older-child fiction genre it grew out of – is often a battle of the generations: children versus adults, in disguise. Sometimes the disguise is pretty thin; sometimes the author doesn’t even attempt a disguise, as is the case with Alexandra Bracken’s “Darkest Minds” series.

Her premise: in the near-ish future, a plague will wipe out most children, and the surviving few have developed strong and usually deadly supernatural powers. The adults react by trying to round children into concentration camps; the newly empowered children must band together and fight back. This opening chapter features Ruby (Stenberg, who has kind of been here before, as Rue in The Hunger Games), a particularly powerful teenager who spends this film on the run and uncertain of who to trust.

I can’t say I have high hopes for the series: there’s every chance it will deteriorate, because, after all, every other teen dystopian series ever made did. But perhaps it’s just that these things are easier to begin than to bring home. The beginnings are often enjoyable, and a promising beginning – like this one – is worth watching in its own right.